


There Are No Such Things as GHOSTS

by Singerme



Category: Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-05
Updated: 2013-10-05
Packaged: 2017-12-28 12:08:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/991832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Singerme/pseuds/Singerme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lee and Amanda have to find some important files but run into a strange situation when they do.  Set in Season 1 around Halloween.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**There are no such things as GHOSTS**

**I don’t own these characters; I just like to spend time with them.** **No other profit to be had.**

**(Setting is season 1 around Halloween)**

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKMSKSMK**

“Scarecrow.  In my office.”  Billy grumbled when Lee finally made it in. 

With a groan and weary shake of his head, Lee, jacket over his shoulder and tie askew, trudged into Billy’s office and closed the door.  He really didn’t want those out in the bull pen to hear his latest chewing out.  “Billy, I know I’m late but…”

“Can it, Scarecrow.”  Billy cut him off.  “This isn’t about your consistent tardiness.  I have a case for you.  Priority one.  Put whatever you’re working on now, on the back burner.”

“What is it?”  Lee asked suddenly alert.

“Have you heard of the old Jenkins Mansion?”  Billy asked as he picked up a thick folder and handed it to Lee.

Lee took the folder as he nodded.  “Yeah, scary looking old place just south of the capital.  Belonged to a Senator or something I think.”

“Exactly.”  Billy nodded.  “Senator Andrew Jenkins.  He died about 5 years ago and since then his place has been tied up in court, while his relatives fight over who gets it.”

“Yeah, yeah, I remember.”  Lee was looking through the file on Jenkins, Billy had given him.  “So, what’s so priority one about a dead Senator and his house?”

“It’s what’s in that house.”  Billy told him.  “We got some information, through one of our sources, that the Senator kept some classified files in his basement.  And when I say classified, I mean Classified with a capital C.  From what we’re told he had names and code names of all of our top agents at the time he was in the senate, as well those in the FBI, CIA and a few other organizations.  He was also rumored to have information on the president as well others.” 

Lee still didn’t understand why it was of such importance.  “That was years ago, Billy.  Wouldn’t most of those files be out of date by now?”

Billy nodded as he reached in his drawer and pulled out a bottle of Tums.  He was already feeling the heartburn begin.  “Yeah, probably, but not all of them.  We do have some agents still out there, who were active back then as do the other bureaus.  I’ve got Francine working on a list, right now, of those that could be affected.”

Lee glanced down at the folder again.  “O-kay,” he said a little warily.  Right then it didn’t seem like there was too much for him to do, but he knew Billy better than that.  “So.  What is it you want me to do that can’t be done with a court order to turn those files over to us?”

Billy didn’t reply for a moment.  ‘Bad sign’, Lee thought.  When Billy did finally answer, he didn’t meet his eye.  Worse sign.  “Bil-ly?”  Lee questioned.

Clearing his throat, Billy used his ‘I’m the boss’ voice and looked directly at Lee.  “We can’t get a court order for the information because we have no proof it’s there. Only the word of an informant.  We’ll need to get the permission of one of the relatives. But there is only one relative who might help us.”

Lee shrugged.  “Okay, than let’s do it.  Who is it?”

“Elizabeth Hopkins.  She’s his niece and the only with a key to the house that might be willing to let us a take a look in that place.  That is…”  Billy paused.  “If you will go and talk to her.”

“Betsy Hopkins, the bride of Frankenstein?”  Lee swallowed hard ignoring Billy’s glare at his use of her nickname, given to her by the many men she had pursued over the years. 

Including Lee.

Elizabeth June Hopkins was one of the wealthiest as well as one of the homeliest women of Washington society.   She had turned the stomachs of many of Washington’s most eligible bachelors. 

Including Lee.

They had met at an embassy dinner and she had taken quite a liking to the dashing young agent.  So much so, that she practically stalked him.  Lee had gone out of his way to avoid her at all possible costs and thought he’d finally shook her.

“Ah, no, Billy.”  Lee protested.  “Don’t make me do that.  I almost never got rid of her last time.  Why not have Francine go and talk to her, or maybe even Fielder.  Hey, how about Abernathy?  He’s in town and he can be quite charming when he wants to be.”

“No, Scarecrow.”  Billy shook his head.  “Francine has already talked to Elizabeth Hopkins and so have I.  She has made it clear she will only speak with you about this matter.”

“But, Billy, that woman is a barracuda.”  Lee voice held just a hint of desperation in it.  “She will eat me alive.  The last time I ran into her, she followed me into the men’s room.  If she gets me alone…”

“Then make sure she doesn’t get you alone.”  Billy cut off his protests.  “Look, Elizabeth June Hopkins is not likely to give us any help at all unless you play her game.  So play it.  Take her to a nice restaurant somewhere or a dance or something nice and public.”

Lee looked up with dread.  “Billy, come on.  You’re throwing me to the wolves here.”

Billy stood and paced around the office, plowing his hands into his pockets.  “You know how bad it could be if those files exist and they got in the wrong hands.  We have to gain access to that place so we can look for them.  And the only way to do that is through Elizabeth Hopkins.”

“But, Billy…”  Lee agitatedly raked his hand through his hair.

“NO ‘buts’, Scarecrow.”  Billy’s voice rose.  “You will go and see Elizabeth June Hopkins and you will do whatever it takes to get her permission to search that house.  GOT IT?”

Lee glared at Billy and started to say something more when a thought came to him.  A thought that just might get the job done and keep him out of the clutches of Betsy Hopkins, the bride of Frankenstein.

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

“Amanda, Dear.”  Dotty called from the family room as Amanda carried in the groceries she’d just bought.  “Did you remember to get matches?”

“Yes, Mother.” Amanda called back.  “I also got the chocolate and marshmallows and graham crackers to make smores.

“Oh, good.”  Dotty said as she came into the kitchen.  “I know the boys love that.”

“They sure do.”  Amanda said as she sat the bag on the counter and began to remove the items she’d bought.

“Gee, Amanda, I sure wish you were going with us.  The Martindale’s have plenty of room in their station wagon and I know the boys would love it.”  Dotty sighed.

“I know, Mother.”  Amanda finished emptying the bag and folded it up, placing it under the sink.  “And I wish I could too, but I promised my boss I’d finish that typing for him, and there is a really big stack of it.”

“I swear, Amanda, sometimes that boss of yours…”  Dotty was cut off by the ringing of the phone. 

Quickly Amanda grabbed it, before her mother could.  “Hello.” 

With a shake of her head, Dotty left the room and went back to her packing in the family room.

“Uh, hi.” 

“Oh, hello.”  Amanda’s voice held the same warmth it always did when she spoke to him.  “How are you?”

“Well..” Lee sighed.  “I’d be better if you’d agree to meet me in an hour.”

Amanda took a peak into the family room to make sure her mother wasn’t within ear shot.  “Meet you?”

“Uh, yeah.  Look I have a meet with someone and I really need my partner there to back me up.”

Amanda smiled when he said partner, something he seldom did.  “Uh, well, alright.  Where do you want me to meet you?”

“Meet me in the Agency parking lot.”  Lee breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh, okay.”  Amanda agreed.  “I can do that.”

“Good.”  Lee said.  “Oh and dress nice, will ya, something tight and sexy.” 

“Tight and sexy?”  Amanda asked.  Her brow shot to her hairline.  She was certain she had misunderstood.

“Yeah, you know.”  Lee answered.  “Something like… like…”  He stopped and gave himself a mental shake.  Amanda probably didn’t have anything like that.  “Okay, look, Amanda.  Forget that.  Just wear something nice and meet me in an hour.”

“Alright,” she said thoroughly confused.  “I’ll be…”  But Lee had already hung up.  “He can be so rude.”  She mumbled with an irritated shake of her head.

“Amanda.”  Dotty called again.  “Who was that on the phone?”

“Uh…”  Amanda hesitated.  “It was for me, Mother.”  She finished putting up the groceries as she thought of an excuse to leave.  “That was my boss, he has some more typing for me to do and I need to run to the office and pick it up.”

“Oh, okay.”  Dotty answered as she watched Amanda head upstairs.  “Amanda, your jacket and purse are down here.”

“I know, Mother.”  Amanda answered as she rushed upstairs.  “But I need to find something nice to wear.”

“To pick up files?”  Dotty questioned.

“Uhm, yes, Mother.”  Amanda responded before disappearing into her room.  “Never know who you might see.”

Dotty stopped and looked up the stairs before closing her eyes and shaking her head.  “That girl never ceases to amaze me.”

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**There are no such things as GHOSTS 2**

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

n hour later, Amanda pulled into the Agency parking lot to find Lee draped across the side of his car. One hand on the hood, the other oh so casually in his pocket. Even in an ordinary business suit he looked good, Amanda thought. When she stepped out of the car, she saw his eyes slowly travel the length of her body and then settle on her face.

 

"Do I look alright?" She asked hoping the outfit she had chosen, a light pink skirt and soft pink sweater, both of which hugged her figure in all the right places, was what he meant by something nice. She didn't own anything that was tight and sexy; at least, not that she would wear in public.

 

"Uh, oh, yeah, you look fine." Lee smiled. She actually looked more than fine to him but he was loath to admit it, even to himself. "Well, let's get going, shall we?"

 

"Where to?" Amanda asked as Lee held the door of the Porsche for her.

 

"Well, I have to go and talk to a woman about getting access to her uncle's house." Lee told her. "We think there may be some classified information on past and present agents stored in there and we need to get it before it falls into the wrong hands."

 

"Oh," Amanda nodded. "So, why do you need me?" She asked when Lee settled himself into the driver's seat.

 

Lee cringed. He'd hoped that she wouldn't ask. "Well, I'm going to meet with someone who's vital to giving us permission to search that house." He hazarded a glance in her direction. So far, so good. "And I just thought as part of your training you'd like to go along and observe how we go about getting cooperation from, sometimes, unwilling participants." Lee was proud of himself for his explanation. It wasn't a lie but it covered the real truth.

 

"Oh, so you don't want to be caught with her alone, huh?" Amanda arched a brow at him, noting his surprise. "I guess that's why you wanted me to wear 'something nice'? You think a woman on your arm will keep her at bay."

 

Sheepishly, Lee nodded. "Yeah."

 

"Why didn't you take Francine with you?" She asked. "Or one of the other agents?"

 

"She's already turned Francine down and she knows most of the other female agents by sight." Lee admitted.

"That's what I thought." Amanda shook her head in irritation.

 

When they reached Elizabeth Hopkins estate, Lee hurried from the car and rushed around to get the door for Amanda. Making sure to tuck her arm into his, he placed his hand on hers, for the benefit of anyone who might be observing them. Amanda said nothing and went along with the ruse, relishing in Lee's attentions, even though his purpose in doing so irked her.

 

As they walked towards the front door, Amanda scanned the house and was impressed with the three story mansion. The outside, composed of stone and heavy beam, with high arched windows, somewhat gave the impression of a medieval fortress. "Interesting house," she remarked as they approached the entry.

 

"Wait till you see the owner." Lee remarked.

 

Amanda shot him a puzzled look as the door was opened and an elderly man ushered them into the foyer. "We're here to see Miss Hopkins." Lee told him. "My name is Lee Stetson. I believe I have an appointment."

 

The man eyed him warily and looked even more suspiciously at Amanda but said only, "This way," as he pivoted to his left and led them into a richly decorated yet very masculine study. "The lady of the house will be with you shortly." He told them as he left and closed the doors behind him.

 

The room was large, dominated by a huge mahogany desk with elaborate carving and flanked with bookcases fully loaded with seemingly weighty tomes. A large settee and two leather wing backed chairs sat in the far corner by a large window, a large oval, glass and wood coffee table sat in front of that. On just every surface sat expensive looking vases and brick-a-brac that made Amanda nervous just to be in the same room with them.

 

Lee shrugged with a grin and led her over to the couch. "You'll understand when you meet her." He said just as the door opened and what, Amanda assumed, was a woman walked in.

She was tall as she was wide, with sallow skin, wispy blond hair cut very short, a large bulbous nose, a prominent mole on her squared chin and one bushy eyebrow running across her face. She was most certainly not attractive. Her clothes, though expensive, were a little too tight for her overabundant figure and the resultant tummy bulge caused one to wonder how much longer the zipper on her pants would hold out. Deep purple eye shadow, popular a decade earlier and in total contrast to the yellow pantsuit, did nothing to help her wide-set blue-gray eyes.

 

Amanda suddenly understood Lee's reluctance to meet with her alone.

 

"Lee, Darling," Betsy exclaimed as she came into the room. "I am so…" she paused when she spotted Amanda sitting beside Lee on the couch. "Oh, hello." She gave Lee a puzzled glance as she moved towards Amanda and extended her hand. "I'm Elizabeth Hopkins. You must be Lee's secretary?"

 

"Uh… no," Amanda shook her hand, trying hard not to snicker at the high reedy voice coming from the woman in front of her. "I'm…"

 

"She's my partner." Lee spoke up, giving Amanda a tight and overly friendly hug. "I'm sorry about this Elizabeth. I was on my way over here when Amanda called and asked if I'd pick her up. See her car broke down and well, you understand. I had to help her out, so I just brought her with me so I wouldn't miss my appointment with you. And of course when we got here, I just couldn't leave her out in a hot car."

 

Amanda cut her eyes at Lee. 'Now who's rambling?' She thought

 

"I see." Elizabeth's tone was cold and brusque. "Well, Lee," Elizabeth practically snarled. "I'm sorry you came over here for nothing. But I am simply too busy to meet with you right now."

 

She owlishly eyed Amanda as she spoke and Lee realized his ploy had worked all too well. He'd kept her at bay by bringing Amanda with him, but too far at bay. "Oh, I thought we had an appointment." Lee said.

 

"WE did." She glared over at Amanda.

 

Amanda wasn't blind but was awfully uncomfortable. "Uh… you know, Lee…" She avoided Elizabeth's scowl. "I think I'd like to walk around a bit. It's a nice day and well…" she trailed off seeing the look on Lee's face. One that was begging her not to leave him alone with Betsy Hopkins. But she knew if Lee stood any chance of gaining access to that house, it would be without her around.

 

"I have the most expensive landscaping in Washington." Elizabeth nodded towards the door. "Please feel free to roam the property."

 

"Thank you." Amanda gave her the briefest of smiles and barely glanced at Lee as she hastily made her way to the exit.

Lee wanted to go with her. He had no desire to be with the 'Bride of Frankenstein' alone. But he had no choice. "Well, uh…" He swallowed hard when he saw the look on Elizabeth's face. "What do you say, we sit down and talk."

 

An hour later, Amanda was beginning to get worried and a bit nervous, rethinking her quick exit from the house. But Lee was a trained agent and quite capable of taking care of himself. He would be just fine. Wouldn't he?"

 

"Amanda."

 

She turned to find him near the front gate.

 

"Let's go." He said, waving her over.

 

When she reached his side, she saw his hair was mussed and he had a lipstick stain on his collar. Arching a brow at him, she had to work hard to stifle a giggle. "Well, I see she got what she wanted." She noted. "Did you?"

 

"We're to meet her at the house tomorrow morning." Lee said. He desperately wanted to get home and take a shower to wash Elizabeth's cloying perfume from his skin. He also wanted to be mad at Amanda for abandoning him, but she'd been right.

 

"We?" Amanda questioned.

 

"We." Lee confirmed. "I will not be caught alone with that shark again."

 

Giving up the fight, Amanda started laughing as they climbed into his car and drove away.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**There no such things as GHOSTS 3**

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

The next morning’s bright sunshine and the pleasant surroundings of the other estates, on this tree lined road, did little to alleviate the gloomy and depressing atmosphere of the Jenkins estate.  From the black iron gates surrounding the place to the overgrown landscaping and the large dead tree in the front yard, it seemed a fine atmosphere for mayhem.

The house, old, dark and foreboding, seemed to exude a sort of wickedness all of its own.  With a heavy iron fence surrounding it, peeling paint and hanging or missing shutters as well as the decaying porch and the widows walk on the top with two missing rails, it looked like the perfect place to stage a Halloween party, complete with ghosts.

Lee had wanted to bring a team to search the place, but Elizabeth would not allow it.  She agreed to give Lee access for a couple of hours this morning but only in her company.  He accepted, because he had no choice.  But he had no intentions of going in there alone with Betsy. 

“Well,” Amanda remarked looking up at the gray, two and a half story Victorian.  “I certainly see why Elizabeth Hopkins wouldn’t want to live in this creepy old house. But why would she want this place at all?  It looks like it’s about to fall down.  It surely can’t be worth all that much.”

“The house isn’t,” Lee agreed looking out the window at the decrepit building.  “But what’s in it may be.  After I dropped you off at your car yesterday, I went back to the office and did some research.  There’s a reason relatives are lining up.”

“You mean there’s treasure in there?”  Amanda couldn’t imagine that place having anything but cobwebs and ghosts.

Lee shrugged.   “Well, there’s been rumors, for years, that Jenkins hid all sorts of documents in the house as well as gold and jewels and anything else of value he could get his hands on.  The claims have mostly been discounted or discredited but the rumors persisted.  So much so that every relative the good senator had, no matter how distant, wants this place thinking they’ll strike it rich.  

Elizabeth Hopkins being the only daughter of his only sister, and the closest one to him, is currently the only one with keys to this place.  Though, by the looks of it, keys wouldn’t be too necessary to get in.”

“But I thought Elizabeth Hopkins was already rich.”  Amanda asked, confused. 

“She is,” Lee nodded.  “But apparently not as rich as she would like everyone to think.  I found some information on her last night, indicating she made some risky investments with her dead husband’s money that didn’t pay off.  She’s not destitute but if her bank account keeps bleeding, she might have to rethink that big house and servants she currently has.”

Amanda looked at him in shock.  “She was married?”  She couldn’t imagine the woman she saw ever being able to attract a man, much less get one willing to marry her.”

Lee chuckled.  “Well, she was much younger then and her husband, Leland Hopkins, was much older.  Maybe he saw something in her no one else did.”

Amanda nodded her head in wonder.  “Maybe so.”

Just then, Lee saw Elizabeth Hopkins’ limo pull into the driveway.  “Here we go.”  He said as he got out of the car and came around to Amanda’s side.

Elizabeth had a smile for Lee until she saw Amanda get out of his car.  “Good morning.”  She greeted them rather stiffly.  “I didn’t know you were bringing her with you.”  She spoke to Lee with a scowl directed at Amanda.

“Well, I explained that,” Lee put on his most charming smile.  “Amanda is my partner.  She has to come with me on things like this.”  When the woman didn’t seem convinced, he stepped away from Amanda and moved closer to her.  “Come on, now, Betsy.  Remember what we talked about yesterday?”

Suddenly Elizabeth giggled, an unattractive sound to be sure, and grinned at Lee.  “Well, alright.”  She happily grabbed Lee’s hand and led him toward the house, totally ignoring Amanda.  “Come on, let’s get this over with, so you and I can enjoy some time alone together.”

Lee swallowed hard and cast a pleading look in Amanda’s direction.  The last thing he wanted to do was spend any sort of time alone with Betsy Hopkins.  But Amanda just gave him her sweetest smile and followed along behind them without a word. 

When the front door opened on creaky hinges to what, at one time, used to be considered a mansion, dust flew out from everywhere and sounds seemed to emanate from the belly of the house as though it was alive.  “No one’s entered this house, besides me, since my f…  my uncle died.”  Elizabeth said, as she entered and looked about the gloomy interior.  “As you can see, nothing’s been touched.”

“I see.”  Lee nodded as he looked around.  He heard her slip of the tongue but wasn’t sure what to make of it.  Glancing over at Amanda, he could see the place  had the same chilling effect on her, as it did him. 

Crammed to the rafters with old furniture and boxes and knick knacks of every sort, it looked dangerous just on that standpoint alone.  But there was also seemed to be an underlying evil that permeated the place and reached into the very heart of anyone who dared to enter.  Shaking his head, Lee briefly pressed his hand into the small of Amanda’s back to reassure her, and himself as well, that there was nothing in the old mansion besides inanimate objects that could hurt no one.

“Well, where would you like to start looking?”  Elizabeth asked Lee.   

“The basement.”  Lee answered as he quickly stepped away from Amanda.  He wanted Betsy on his side until this search was finished.  And she wouldn’t be, if he paid any special attention to his partner. 

Elizabeth led them through the dark, cluttered and musty smelling hallway to the kitchen and to a door just to the right of the entryway.  “I don’t believe anyone’s been down here at all since uncle died.”  Elizabeth stated as she opened the door and switched on her flashlight.  “I’m not sure what shape the stairs are in.  It could be awfully dangerous going down.”

Something in the way she said that,  bothered Lee and he instinctively stepped in front of the two women, more to protect Amanda than Elizabeth.  “Tell you what.”  He smiled gallantly.  “Let me go down first, then you follow me and Amanda can come in behind you.  That way, if there is any problem with the stairs, I’ll find it first and can keep you from getting hurt.”

“Oh, Lee, you’re such a sweetheart.”  Elizabeth smiled happily giving a gloating look to Amanda.

Amanda said nothing, understanding Lee’s thinking.  Being the last on the stairs, she would also be the safest.  Giving Elizabeth the merest of nods, she stepped aside and let Lee go first, then Elizabeth. But as Lee led the way down into the bowels of the ancient creaking structure, she prayed the whole way, they’d escape unscathed.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**There are no such things as GHOSTS 4**

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

Despite one broken stair tread near the bottom, the trip down was uneventful and Lee smiled when Amanda finally reached the floor of the basement and stepped down beside him.  “Okay.”  He said, clapping his hands together with more enthusiasm than he felt.  “Let’s get started looking.”

The basement however, seemed to be even more formidable than the upper level of the house.  Against every wall, was stacked either a filing cabinet, a pile of boxes, or broken furniture of some kind.  The late senator, it seemed, never threw out anything.   There was barely a path between the mounds of debris on either side to get from the bottom of the stairs to the other end where a large old roll-top desk stood on weary legs, covered in spider webs and paper.

Carefully, and with an eye behind him occasionally to reassure himself of Amanda’s safety, Lee led the way across the basement with his flashlight held in front as though it were his gun.  Right then, the security of light, in that scary old basement, trumped that of the gun.

Amanda looked dolefully at the myriad number of boxes and piles of paper then back to Lee.  “Where do we start?”

Lee shrugged and took a deep breath.   Reaching for the nearest box, he picked it up and handed it to her.  “Here.” He answered as he took a box for himself.

“Well,” Elizabeth sighed and grabbed the only chair as she watched Lee and Amanda get to work.  “I think I’ll have a seat while I wait for you two.”

Lee threw Amanda an exasperated glance, and with a shake of his head, opened his first box.  As he did so, he felt a sudden cold draft of air sweep over him and for just a moment, he could’ve sworn he heard piano music, but he shrugged it off as imagination. 

Though she hadn’t felt the cold air, Amanda had heard the music as well.  But one look at Lee and she decided it best to keep that to herself.

Two hours later, which was all the time Elizabeth would allow them, they emerged from the underground space, dirty and exhausted and with very little to show for their trouble. 

Both Lee and Amanda were coughing raggedly while they dusted off their clothes as best as possible.  But they noticed, other than a light coating of dust on Elizabeth’s shoulder she seemed to have suffered little from her trip to the basement.

“Well, that was a waste of time,” Amanda opined as she stretched her aching back and anxiously searched her arm for the spider that might’ve been attached to the web that was there.

“Oh, I’m sorry you couldn’t find what you were looking for.”  Elizabeth said rather snidely as she slithered up to Lee, nearly knocking Amanda down in the process. “But I warned you it wouldn’t be easy to find anything down there.”

“Yeah,” Lee gave her an irritated frown.  “Look, Elizabeth, are you sure you won’t allow me to bring in a crew to look down there?  With enough people we could be in and out of there in no time and know for a fact whether there was anything relating to the Agency or not.”

Elizabeth shook her head.  “I’m sorry, Lee.  Like I told you, until this thing is settled in court, I can’t let you or anyone else spend too much time in there.  Why if any of my relatives found out that we did this…”

“Yeah, I know.”  Lee waved her off as he finished dusting off his jacket and then took Amanda’s arm.   “Thanks, anyway, Elizabeth.  Have a good day.”

Amanda took a wary look at Elizabeth’s suddenly furious face and then over at Lee’s rather amused expression.  “Uh, Lee…?”

“Tell you in the car.”  He whispered.

“Lee?”  Elizabeth hurried after them.  “What about this evening?  You promised you’d have dinner with me.”  She gave him what she considered to be a coquettish smile but to Lee it looked a little more like a lopsided sneer.

“Oh, yeah.”  Lee acted as though he’d just remembered.  “Tell ya what, Elizabeth.”  He smiled just before climbing into his car.  “I’ll call you.”  Quickly as he could, Lee shut the door and locked it, then quickly reversed the car and left the grounds of the former senator’s home as quickly as possible.

When they’d passed through the gates and back out onto the streets, Amanda looked over at her partner.  “Lee, what was that all about?  I mean, I know you don’t want to spend time with Elizabeth Hopkins and I know we didn’t find anything in that basement…”

 “Amanda,” Lee managed before she caught her breath and continued.

 “well, I mean found all kinds of things, but we didn’t find the things or at least the papers we were looking for.  Of course with that many boxes, it would be hard…”

“Amanda,” Lee tried again to interrupt her.

“but why did you have that smile on your face?”  She gave him a puzzled look, not even aware he had tried to stop her rambling.

Lee shook his head and his grin widened.  “Because, I did find something down there.”  He said smugly.

“You did?”  Amanda was suitably impressed.  “What?  Where is it?”

Lee’s grin faltered a little but it didn’t disappear entirely.  “It’s still down there.  Elizabeth was watching us like a hawk and I have an idea she would’ve insisted on seeing anything we tried to take out of there.”

“Well, what if she did.”  Amanda asked.  “I mean if its government papers and it has to do with the Agency…”

“But that’s just it, though.”  Lee told her as they sped back towards the office.  “I couldn’t get a good enough look at it to tell exactly what it did have to do with.  But it looked like it could very well be important.  And I didn’t get the impression that Betsy Hopkins wanted us to find anything important.”

“Well, what we are going to do then?”  Amanda asked, suddenly getting a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach that she knew what he was thinking.

“We’re going back.”  Lee told her.  “Tonight.”

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**There are no such things as GHOSTS 5**

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

“Lee,” Amanda whispered as he led her into Jenkins back yard and towards the back door.  “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Lee looked over at her with an odd expression on his handsome face.  “What do you mean?  Amanda, we need those files, and those files are in this house.”

“Yeah, I know.  But isn’t there some other way?  I mean couldn’t Mr. Melrose make Elizabeth Hopkins let us in there again **, _in the daytime_**?”

“I already told you.” Lee fought to keep his voice even and his temperament calm.  “The information we got was unsubstantiated so no judge would issue us a court order to search the place and Elizabeth Hopkins will most likely never let us near this place again if she can help it.  We have no other choice but to do it this way.”

“But this place looks… haunted.”  She protested, as her frightened brown eyes darted nervously around the yard, noting the too many dark shadows.

Lee stopped and gave her an irritated frown.  “Haunted?  Amanda, there are no such thing as haunted houses and ghosts.  This place is just old, is all.  Besides we were in there this morning and nothing happened, did it?”

Reluctantly, Amanda shook her head.  “No.”

“Well, then nothing will happen tonight.  Now, come on, and watch your step once we get in there.  Remember how cluttered that place is.”  Lee’s tone was exasperated but looking around at the desolate looking house and property, he kind of understood what she meant.

Risking another look around the overgrown and forbidding looking back yard, Amanda took the hand Lee offered her, swallowed hard and followed him to the back entryway.  Just as Lee got the door opened, a howl could be heard coming from somewhere behind them.  Both heads jerked up and glanced nervously around but the farther regions of the property were too shrouded in darkness to offer much of a view, despite the full moon above.

“Just a neighbor’s dog.”  Lee said, as much to reassure himself as Amanda. 

The back door hinges screamed loudly in protest when Lee pushed the door open and headed in, pulling Amanda in behind him.  After closing the door, Lee and Amanda clicked on their flashlights and pointed the beams down to illuminate their way towards the basement door. 

They had almost reached it, when a cup, sitting across the room on a counter, seemingly flung itself, from its resting place, to the floor, landing unbroken just inches from their feet.  Amanda gasped as she wildly swung her flashlight around the room, seeing nothing out of place other than the flying cup which now rested innocently on the floor.  “Lee?”

“Oh, Amanda,” Lee said as he bent down and picked up the cup and set back on the counter.  “It was probably sitting close to the edge and our footsteps caused just enough of a disturbance to push it over.”

“Uh, huh.”  Amanda said, not convinced in the slightest.  “How come nothing else fell and how come that didn’t break?”

“I don’t know.”  Lee asked in irritation.  “Now, come on and stay close.”

Following his instructions perfectly, Amanda practically glued herself to his back, running into him when he stopped suddenly after taking only three steps down towards the basement. 

“Amanda,” Lee looked back at her. 

“Stay close but not that close.”  Amanda sighed. “Got it.”

Shaking his head, he aimed his flashlight back behind them for a moment, pausing on the counter; the cup had been sitting on.  He could’ve sworn he heard something right in that area, but nothing moved and he saw nothing to cause alarm.  Deciding it was just Amanda making him a little jumpy; he directed his light back down the stairs and started down again.

When he got to the bottom of the stairs, Lee waited for Amanda to reach his side, then followed the beam of his flashlight back towards the old desk.  They had only taken a couple of steps however, when Amanda tugged at the back of his sweater.

“Lee?  Do you hear that?”

Lee stopped, his senses in overdrive, straining to hear anything besides the groaning of an old house in its death throes and Amanda’s labored breathing.  But there was nothing.  “Hear what?”  He was, by now, getting used t0 Amanda’s sometimes, overactive imagination and he realized they were in a spooky old house at night, so he tried to remain patient.

“There’s someone upstairs.”  Amanda whispered loudly, her raspy voice made even raspier with fear.

Lee frowned at her and stopped again, listening intently, but he still heard nothing.  “Aman…”  He stopped when the sound finally reached him.  It sounded like… like… almost like… someone walking with a cane.  First a solid step, then a sliding noise as though dragging a foot accompanied by a tap as the cane hit the floor. 

The footsteps, if footsteps they were, seemed to traverse the floor above from one end of the room to the other.   Step, slide – tap.  Step, slide – tap.  Step, slide – tap.  Step, slide – tap.  Step, slide – tap.

Looking back at Amanda, he understood the frightened look on her face.  Pushing her behind him, he pulled his gun and headed back for the stairs.  “Stay here.”

“Are you kidding?”  Amanda eye’s widened.  “Not on your life, Scarecrow.”  She swallowed hard.  “Or on mine.”

Lee decided against arguing.  She wouldn’t stay there anyway, and he knew it.  “Stay behind me, then.”

As he headed back up the stairs, Amanda grabbed a hold of the back of his sweater causing him to stop and look back at her.  “Amanda.”

She let go but she didn’t move away. 

Shaking his head, yet again, he cautiously ascended the stairs, pausing just at the doorway. Raising his gun, he threw himself from the doorway into the room above, shining his flashlight around as he did so. 

No one was there. 

No one.

Puzzled, he stood perfectly still for a few moments while his heart slowed down and he double checked the room.  He knew he heard someone walking.  It simply couldn’t have been his imagination.  Deciding who ever it was must’ve gone to another part of the house; he looked back at Amanda and moved silently into the hallway to search the front parlor.

At first he saw nothing, then something dark caught his eye just at the edge of the room.  Raising his gun, once again, he took careful aim and pinpointed the thing with his flashlight, his finger on the trigger.

But when the light hit it, he immediately took his finger off of the trigger and lowered his pistol.  It was a cat.  A large black cat with brilliant green eyes, hissing menacingly at the intruders.

“It’s a cat.”  Lee took a deep breath.  “Just a cat.”

But Amanda was not inclined to agree with him.  “Lee, I know what I heard and what I heard was not a cat.  What I heard was a person with a cane and he wasn’t in here, he was in the kitchen.”

“Amanda,”  Lee said as patiently as he could.  “We were just in the kitchen.  No one was there.  It had to be the cat.  I mean, as big a thing as he is, he probably just sounded like a human from down in the basement.” 

“Lee,”  Amanda rolled her eyes at him.  “I know you don’t think much of me as an agent…”

“That’s because you’re not an agent.”  Lee pointed out.

“but,” Amanda ignored the comment, “I do have very good hearing and I heard a man up here.  Not a cat.”

“How do you know it wasn’t a woman?”  Lee asked with a smirk.  Now that he knew it’d been a cat making the noise and possibly knocking cups off the counter, he was relaxed enough to tease her.

“Okay,” Amanda said in exasperation.  “A person then.  It doesn’t matter whether it was male or female but it does matter that is was human, Lee.  It was not a cat.”

“Alright.”  Lee waved her off.  “Then it was a person.  But obviously that person is gone and we still need to get those files.  Now, are you coming back down with me to get them or would you like to stay up here with the cat and watch for ghosts?”

Amanda glared at him, but turned around and headed back for the basement stairs.  “Smart aleck.”  She muttered.

“I heard that.”  Lee chuckled as they went back down below.

TBC 


	6. Chapter 6

**There are no such things as GHOSTS 6**

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

The cat had remained upstairs and they heard not another sound from it when they returned to the basement.  And though they did hear the occasional screech or creak, they attributed that to the age of the house and most likely mice.  The only thing that really troubled them was the cold.

Granted, it was late October outside, and the dilapidated old house had no heat, but it still seemed sharply colder in some spots than others.  Both of them noticed it but neither of them wanted to speculate on why it was that way.  Instead they pulled their coats tighter around them and went to work, doing their best to ignore the noises, the cold and the shadows that seemed alive somehow.

For the next few hours, Lee and Amanda combed the basement, avoiding the boxes they’d looked in earlier that day and concentrating on the area where Lee had found the one file he now had stuffed in a box along with several others.  Twice, Lee reached for a carton to go through it, only to find another one directly in front of him when he swore it hadn’t been there a second prior. 

Both of those cartons contained old newspaper clippings but nothing he was looking for.  However, Lee’s instinct told him those clippings could be important as well.  Stuffing as many of them as he could into the one box he wanted to take with him, he finally stopped and assessed the situation.

He wanted to look through everything but he knew it would take a lot more time and a lot more man power to do that.  Besides, both Lee and Amanda were tired and their flashlight batteries were rapidly growing weak.  And, Lee hoped, they’d gotten perhaps enough evidence to finally get a court order for a more thorough search.

Amanda stretched her back as she leaned over to hand Lee a thick stack of papers.  “Here are some more papers you should look at when we get back to the Agency.”  

Lee reached for the papers, but suddenly something small and black flew right between them, causing Amanda to shriek and drop the papers to land across the floor.  “What was that?”  She asked with a tremor to her voice.

Lee grabbed his flashlight to shine it around the room but his weakened batteries chose that moment to die leaving them in the faint glow of Amanda’s flashlight. “Don’t suppose you brought any extra batteries, did you?”  Lee asked half in jest.

“Yes, I did,” Amanda answered as she reached into the small backpack she had brought.  In a couple of minutes she had replaced the batteries and switched the flashlight back on with a smile. 

Lee just shook his head.  “I should’ve known.”  Taking the light from Amanda, he turned, slowly illuminating as much of the dank basement as possible, but they saw nothing.  “Hunh,” he muttered.  “Well, it was small and it could be anywhere or it could’ve been nothing.  Come on, let’s get these papers picked up and then get out of here.”

“Yeah,” Amanda whole heartedly agreed. 

As the two bent to the floor, another rush of frigidly cold air brushed against them.  Both stopped and looked at each other, but after a second, shrugged and went back to gathering papers.  They had just picked up the last piece when the footsteps came again.   This time they seemed headed in their direction.  Step, slide – tap.  Step, slide – tap.

“Lee?”  Amanda’s voice rose in pitch but lowered in volume.

Hastily shoving the papers in the box, he grabbed it and then swiftly pulled his gun.  “Stay behind me.”  He whispered.  Leading the way back to the stairs, he paused when he saw, what he swore, was a light at the top of the stairs.  Switching off his flashlight, he turned and handed it to Amanda.  “Don’t move.”  He told her.

The look on his face, told Amanda how very serious he was and for once she listened, briefly anyway.  Grabbing a hold of the banister, Lee hesitated for just a m0ment then launched himself up the stairs and onto the top floor.  As before the room the room up above was empty, save for the furniture and the smell of decay. No light, no movement.  “Amanda,” he whispered down the stairs.

“You find anything?”  She asked from right behind him, causing him to jump.

“I thought I told you to stay put?”  He said irritably. 

“You told me not to move.”  Amanda corrected him.  “And I didn’t, at least for a couple of minutes.  But you can’t expect me to stay down there alone.”

Rolling his eyes, Lee took the box that Amanda had brought up and tucked it under his arm.  “Let’s just get out of this place, okay?”

Amanda nodded and followed Lee closely, bumping into him again as they turned the corner and he stopped abruptly.  Lee glanced back her in exasperation then looked around the room.  He swore he heard something that sounded like very faint crying.  “You hear that?”  He asked.

Amanda cocked her head and listened intently but heard nothing.  “No.”  She answered.  “What am I supposed to be hearing?”

Lee didn’t answer for a moment, hoping he would hear it again and he could identify the source.  But the sound didn’t come again.  “Nothing, I guess.”  He answered. “Come on.” 

Starting once again for the door, they had almost reached it when a knife came flying across the room directly at them.  Lee dropped the box he held and turned, grabbing Amanda, and pulling her down just as the knife went past and imbedded itself in the wall behind them.  “You alright?”  He asked her anxiously. 

Amanda took a deep breath and cautiously nodded.  “Who threw that knife, Lee?”  She asked, looking fearfully around them but seeing nothing.

“I don’t know.”  Lee answered as helped her back up and reached again for the box.  “But whoever or whatever it is, doesn’t want us here and I think it would be wise for us to leave now.”

Swallowing hard, Amanda agreed as she put her backpack around her right arm and once again started for the door behind Lee.  But before they could take two steps more, something snagged the backpack and pulled back forcefully, causing Amanda to stumble backwards and land on her backside on the floor.

Lee whirled around with his flashlight but saw nothing but Amanda on the floor, trying to get back up.  “What happened?”  He questioned.

“I don’t know.”  Amanda said with a tremor in her voice.  “It felt like something grabbed my bag and pulled back on me.  Lee, I want to get out of here.”

Lee nodded in total agreement.  “I do too.”  He said.  “Let’s go now.” 

With another glance behind them, Lee and Amanda completed the distance to the door and pulled it open, only to have it pulled from their hands and slam shut. “What the…?”

“Lee, I don’t think this place wants us to leave.”  Frightened brown eyes darted nervously around the room.

“Don’t be silly, Amanda.”  Lee shook his head.  ‘This house is not alive.  It’s just old and things don’t work the way they used to.  Here.”  He handed her the box. “Hold that and I’ll get this door opened.”

Amanda took the box while Lee turned back to the door, pulling with all his might but it wouldn’t budge.  “I may have to break a window.”  Lee said and pulled his gun to do that just as they once again heard footsteps.  This time they seemed to be coming up from the basement below and they weren’t the same. 

“Lee?”  Amanda’s distress was clear and Lee had to admit, he was feeling a little concerned himself.

With his gun in hand, Lee raised his fist to towards the glass pane of the door but stopped when it suddenly swung open as though to usher them out.  Without a backwards glance, Lee grabbed the box from Amanda and the two ran as fast as they could off the grounds of the old house and back to Lee’s car.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**There are no such things as GHOSTS 7**

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

“Lee, I know you don’t agree with me but you have to admit that there were some pretty strange things going on in that house tonight.” 

After leaving the house, Lee had wanted to drive Amanda back home but she had refused.  She insisted they at least make a start on the box of information they collected.  Though she didn’t say it, the truth was she really didn’t want to go home.  Her mother and the boys were on a camping trip and the house was empty.

So, here they sat in Lee’s apartment, looking at the papers in front of them and arguing about whether there were ghosts in that house or not.

Lee took a deep breath and wearily nodded his head.  “Okay, yes, I do agree there were some strange things going on, but like I told you, that house is old.  There could be any number of reasons for the noises we heard.”

“And the door?”  Amanda prodded.  “And the cat?”

“A-man-da.”  Lee was valiantly trying to hang onto his temper.

Amanda recognized the tone and dropped the issue for the moment.  Besides, the newspaper clipping she had been looking at was rather interesting.  “Lee, look at this.”  She handed the paper over to him.

“What?”  Lee asked as he scanned the paper, not seeing anything overly important.

“Right there.”  Amanda pointed at a small article on bottom of the page.

“Senator Jenkins attends premier of new movie with niece Elizabeth.”  Lee read.  “Senator Andrew Jenkins and niece Elizabeth were out on the town last night for the premier of the newest movie.  ‘ _I promised Betsy a night on the town and I’m just keeping my promise.’_   Jenkins said.” 

Lee looked from the clipping with a confused look on his face.  “So, what’s so important about this?  From what I’ve heard, Jenkins was a publicity hound.  He liked having his picture in the papers as much as possible.”

“Um, huh.”  Amanda nodded as she sat several more clippings down on the table in front of Lee.  “He sure did.  And just about every time, he had his niece Elizabeth with him.  I mean there are no pictures of her with her mother, but plenty with him.”

Lee looked down at the different clippings and saw a much younger Elizabeth in almost all of them.  “So?”  He shrugged.  “Jenkins loved his niece.  I mean he never had kids of his own so apparently he showered his niece with his affections.”

“That would work,” Amanda said, “except he didn’t like kids.”

Lee gave her a confused look.  “What do you mean he didn’t like kids?  How do you know how he felt about kids?”

Amanda placed another clipping in front of him.  It was interview he had given when he was just starting out in politics.  Lee quickly scanned the article, stopping on a paragraph near the end.  “To be honest,” Senator Jenkins told this reporter, “I’m not cut out to be a family man.  Children and I don’t often get along.”

Lee sat thoughtfully for a moment but finally shook his head.  “This interview was done when he was young, Amanda.”  He told her.  Just because he felt that way then, doesn’t mean he couldn’t have changed his mind.  Besides, what’s the significance of all this?  I mean, all we’re looking for is anything Jenkins may have squirreled away down in his basement that could lead to an agent, which we haven’t found.  We don’t care whether he liked kids or not.”

“I know, Lee.”  Amanda nodded, a little frustrated.  “But that’s not all.  There are also clippings here about Elizabeth’s wedding and her husband’s death, which by the way was suspicious according to some of these.  Look here’s a picture of her and him on their wedding day.  Boy, you weren’t kidding when you said he was a lot older than her.  He’s on a cane.   I mean these papers contain just about anything you could possibly want to know about Elizabeth and Senator Jenkins but only about them.  There’s nothing in here about Elizabeth’s mother or dad or…”

“Well, Amanda, that’s not really unusual.  I mean the newspaper usually only covers major events and people.  They’d have no reason to mention Elizabeth’s parents.”

Amanda sighed.  “Well, maybe you’re right. But I can’t help but feel there is something important about this.  I mean, didn’t you say that that box of clippings kept getting in your way?  What if they ghost wanted us to find it?  What if…”

“Ghost?”  Lee’s eyebrows disappeared at his hairline.  “Amanda, I told you there are no such things as ghosts.  These clippings were just there.  No ghost shoved them in my hands.  Besides, they’re unimportant.  They won’t help us get a court order to go through that house.  What will help, we haven’t found so far.  Those papers, I found this morning, weren’t what I thought they were.  Their interesting but not what we needed.  Neither were those newspaper clippings.”

“Then why did you take them?”  Amanda asked pointedly.

“Well…”  Lee stopped.  Truth was; he didn’t know why he’d taken them.  Something had just impressed him to do so.  But looking at Amanda’s arched brow, he was determined he wasn’t going to tell her that.  “It doesn’t matter.”  He said as he pushed back from the table and got up.  “Look, Amanda, it’s late and we’re both tired. What do you say, I take you home and we finish looking through all of this tomorrow, huh?

Wearily, Amanda nodded.  “Yeah, I guess you’re right.  I am a little tired.  Tell you what, I’ll meet you at the Agency early tomorrow morning and we’ll finish going through all of this stuff then.”

Lee smiled.  “Good, plan.”

After Lee dropped her off, Amanda trudged into her house and up to her room.  She was exhausted but something kept nagging at her.  There was something in those clippings but her tired mind just couldn’t figure out what it was.  Shaking her head, she quickly changed into her nightgown and slipped into bed, asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

When Lee returned to his apartment, he too was tired.  But what Amanda said kept bothering him.  Something about…  Dropping his jacket on the back of the couch, Lee stood looking at the pile of papers on the table.  Suddenly a thought came to him.  Going over to his coffee maker, he started a fresh pot of coffee and then went back to the table.  He thought he just might know what he was looking for.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**There are no such things as GHOSTS 8**

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

When Amanda arrived at the Agency the next morning, Mrs. Marsden didn’t even bother asking for the code word.  Handing her a badge, she motioned towards the closet elevator. “Mr. Stetson and Mr. Melrose wanted to see you as soon as you got here.  Go on down.” 

Amanda looked at the gray haired woman questionably.  “Don’t you want the code word?”

“Do you remember it?”  Mrs. Marsden asked with an arched brow.

“Well… no.” Amanda admitted.  Looking at Mrs. Marsden she quickly decided not to admit anything else, turned and headed towards the elevator.  “Thank you, Mrs. Marsden.” She said as she got on the elevator.

Billy looked up when Amanda tapped on his office door and motioned her in.  “Come in, Amanda.”  He urged her. 

“Good morning, Mr. Melrose, Lee.”  She greeted them with a smile. 

“Morning, Amanda.”  Lee barely looked up from the files in his lap. 

“Sir,” Amanda looked curiously at Lee before returning her gaze to Billy.  “Mrs. Marsden said you and Lee wanted to see me right away.”

“Yes, Amanda.”  Billy nodded.  “It’s about the information you and Lee got from the Jenkins’ house last night.  Lee thinks he found something.”

Amanda looked back over at Lee.  “You did?”

“Yeah, I did.”  Lee nodded as he got up and handed her the file he had been looking at.  “Remember those clippings we were looking at last night?”

Amanda nodded as she opened the file and began to look at the papers inside.  “Um, huh.”

“Well, I got to thinking about them and some of the things you said, so I dove into that box again when I got back home last night.   And then this morning, when I got here, I did a little more checking on Betsy Hopkins and her uncle and her husband.  I’m still not ready to say that a ghost helped us last night, but I do believe the information we found will.”

Amanda didn’t reply as she read the scant information in the file before looking up at Lee with confusion.  “I don’t understand.  This is about Senator Jenkins and some woman named Anna, what little there is of it.  What does this have to do with Elizabeth Hopkins and getting us access to that house?”

“It has to do with leverage.”  Francine said as she came into the room and handed a report to Billy.  “I checked all available data on Anna Vysotsky, Billy.  There isn’t much known about her.  She was born in 1925 to Russian immigrant parents and went to work for Andrew Jenkins family as a maid in 1945.  In 1947 Jenkins started his law practice and he moved to a house in DC and took Anna with him.  After that there’s really no official mention of her anywhere.”

Instead of clearing things up for Amanda, Francine’s little background on Anna Vysotsky left her even more confused.  “I’m sorry, Sir.”  Amanda shook her head.  “But I still don’t understand.”

“It’s simple, Amanda.”  Lee spoke up as he handed her a small book with a latch on it. 

Amanda looked down to see a diary.  The name on the front was Anna Vysotsky.  Opening to a page that was marked, she read an entry that claimed… “Senator Jenkins was Elizabeth Hopkins father and Anna was her mother?” 

“Well, not officially.”  Francine answered.  “At least not anywhere but in that diary. On all official transcripts, Betsy Hopkins is the daughter of Myra Jenkins Parks and her deceased husband Montgomery Parks. Of course I can’t find anything on Montgomery Parks before or after he supposedly married Myra who died about ten years ago of a heart attack.  And Anna disappeared completely after Elizabeth was born.   I don’t know how Jenkins did it, but somehow he managed to hide every trace of Anna other than that diary.”

 “Yeah, I noticed.”  Lee spoke up.  “But it doesn’t change the truth.  Betsy June Hopkins is Jenkins daughter not his niece.”

Billy nodded.  “And unless I miss my guess, her husband found out about it.  Probably why he married her.  Figured he could use that information to get Jenkins to throw lots of government business his way.  Only it didn’t work.  Jenkins was already deep into gambling and it wasn’t long after their marriage that Jenkins left office in scandal.”

It was now making sense to Amanda.  “So that’s what you meant by leverage?  You think if we tell Elizabeth Hopkins that we know who her real mother and father were, she’ll grant us full access to search that house completely?”

“Well, not exactly.”  Billy sighed.  “Betsy Hopkins’ doesn’t intimidate easily.  It’d take more than what we currently have to get her to help us anymore than she already has.”  He gave Lee a reproving look.  “But I think there’s more to this.  Lee, I want you and Amanda to go talk to anyone, you think, might be able to give you the skinny on Betsy Hopkins and her ‘uncle’.” 

“Like who?”  Lee asked with a frown.  “Not too many people have too much to do with her and those who do are usually too afraid to say too much either for or against her.”

“Not if you talk to the right people.”  Billy told him.  “Elizabeth Hopkins has maids and gardeners and other low level employees that I’m sure could tell you plenty if you approach them right.”

“Yeah, Lee.”  Francine put in.  “Just let Amanda do the talking.  I mean after all, they are her kind of people.”  She gave Amanda her best snarky smile.

Lee started to say something about Francine’s mouth but Billy beat him to the punch.  “Perhaps they are, Francine.  But I can guarantee you, she’ll enjoy her interviews much more than you will enjoy yours.”

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**There are no such things as GHOSTS 9**

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

Francine dragged her tired and extremely sore body into Billy’s office and dropped herself into the nearest chair.  Her hair was in shambles and the top button of her blouse was missing, not to mention the torn panty hose where she had been forced to pry an unwanted hand from her thigh. 

She had been pinched, kissed and groped.  One man had even slapped her on the rear end with a lecherous wink, inviting her to his place later in the day.  It might have been interesting, perhaps even desired, if the man hadn’t been in his 80’s and his place was a shared room in an old folk’s home.  Billy had sent her to interview former contemporaries of Senator Jenkins.

“Well, I see you returned in one piece.”  Billy grinned.  “You get anything?”

Francine glared at her boss.  “Oh, yeah.  I got bruises and torn pantyhose and a hand print on my…”  She took a deep breath and leaned back in the chair.  “Well, let’s just say a handprint.  But I swear; I’m putting in for hazard pay on this one, Billy.  I deserve it.”

Billy chuckled.  “What about information?  Did you acquire any of that along with the handprint?”

Francine shrugged.  “Well, I got a little bit of that as well.  It seems that even before his gambling problems came to light, Senator Andrew Jenkins was not a well-liked man.  I found very few of his colleagues who had anything good to say about him.  Most of it had nothing to do with what we wanted to know about, but one man, retired businessman by the name of Baggett or something, did have something interesting to say.  He was a former partner of Jenkins in his law firm before he went into politics full time.”

“Oh?”  Billy’s ears perked up.

Francine reached down and took her heels off and massaged her feet.  “My feet are killing me.”  She moaned.  “I must’ve walked a mile in that nursing home just to talk to one man.  I swear…”

“Francine.”  Billy cleared his throat.  “What did this man say?”

“Oh.”  Francine sat back.  “Well, he said in mid-1948, right around the time Elizabeth Hopkins was born, Jenkins suddenly turned up missing for a few days.  He didn’t show up in his office or anywhere else.  They couldn’t reach him by phone and when someone went to his home, it was locked up tight as a drum with no sign of anyone being there for a while.”

Billy rubbed his chin thoughtfully.  “Well, that’s unusual alright, but what does that have to do with anything?” 

“Well, this Baggett or Beggit or whatever his name was, said when Jenkins finally did show back up, he announced that his sister had just had a little girl and would be moving in with him.  He said that he’d gone to get her and that was why he had left so suddenly.”

“That explains his disappearance.”  Billy shrugged.  “What about Anna?  I mean she was living there as well, wasn’t she?”

“Supposedly.”  Francine answered.  “But after Myra and Elizabeth moved in, Anna wasn’t seen again.  The good Mr. Baggett… Beckett?  Well, whatever his name is, said that he’d been over to Jenkins house many times and could only remember seeing her a few times after she moved into the senator’s place.  He couldn’t recall seeing her much in the 6 months prior to Elizabeth Hopkins birth.  And he never saw her at all after Elizabeth was born.”

“That’s pretty much what we found.”  Lee spoke from the doorway.

Billy and Francine turned to see Lee coming in, Amanda behind him. 

“What’d you find, Lee?”  Francine asked.

Lee looked at her with a smirk.  “It’s not  _what_  I found, it’s closer to  _who_  I didn’t find and it wasn’t me.  It was Amanda.”

Francine rolled her eyes at the mention of Amanda.  “Okay, I’ll bite.  So what did our domestic goddess find, or didn’t find?”

“Anna Vysotsky.”  Amanda answered. Ignoring Francine’s barb.

“Anna Vysotsky supposedly left town right before Andrew Jenkins moved out from his parent’s home.”  Lee picked it up from there.  “Only the rumor was that she didn’t leave on her own steam.  Amanda talked to an elderly lady by the name of Wilma Hengst who worked for Jenkins next door neighbor at the same time Anna was working for Jenkins.” 

“See, I told you, Amanda, that you’d be in your element with the maids and butlers.”  Francine smiled.

“Stifle it, Francine.”  Billy warned.

“It just so happens, Mrs. Hengst wouldn’t talk to me, Francine.”  Lee cut his eyes at her.  “She wouldn’t even talk with me in the room, so I had to leave and let Amanda talk to her alone.  Anyway, the way this woman tells it, Andrew Jenkins was determined to have Anna, only Anna wasn’t cooperating.”

“Are you saying he forced her?”  Francine asked. Though few things surprised her, things of this nature did upset her.

“Well, maybe,” Amanda shook her head at the thought of it.  “According to Mrs. Hengst, Anna seemed uncomfortable around Jenkins but she never actually said why.”

“Well, why didn’t she just leave?”  Francine thought the solution a simple one.

“Because,” Amanda answered.  “Anna was a poor child of immigrants who had no money and no place to go.  Mrs. Hengst seemed to think that Anna was afraid of him.  So anyway, she stayed.  At least for a while.  But Mrs. Hengst said she seldom saw her about five or six months before Elizabeth was born and never saw her again afterwards.”

“After we talked to Mrs. Hengst and a few others,” Lee jumped in.   “Amanda and I came back here and starting combing all available records for Anna.   But Anna Vysotsky can’t be found on any official records of any kind after Elizabeth was born.  Her social security number has never been used for work and there are no records anywhere of her marrying anyone or even of her death.”

“What are you saying, Lee?  You don’t think he killed her?”  Francine’s blue eyes widened at the thought.

“I don’t know.”  Lee answered with a shrug as he leaned against Billy’s desk. “Maybe, or maybe she died trying to have the baby.” 

“You got any ideas of how to find out which?”  Billy asked, folding his arms across his chest. 

Lee shook his head with a sigh.  “No.  Everything we found out, and it sounds like Francine found out, is just basically hearsay.  We can’t prove any of it and even if we could, what good is it?  If Jenkins did murder Anna, he’s beyond punishment now.  Us trying to use that as leverage wouldn’t work.  And no court would grant us a court order based on speculation about a murder that has nothing to do with those files we need.”

Billy sighed deeply as he got up and walked around his desk, reached in a drawer and pulled out some antacid.  “Then all of this was for nothing.”  He shook his head in irritation.

“Sir?” Amanda spoke up suddenly.  “Maybe it wasn’t for nothing.”  All heads turned to her, making her blush a touch at the attention.

“What do you mean, Amanda?”  Billy asked.

“Well, sir, I think I may have an idea.”  Amanda answered.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**There are no such things as GHOSTS 10**

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

“Alright, Lee.”  Betsy Hopkins snapped as she got out of her car and walked up to Lee.  He was leaning on his own car, a brief case in his hands, in front of Andrews Jenkins derelict house.  “What do you want and why couldn’t you have told me over the phone?  What was so important that I had to meet you here?”

Lee gave her a chagrined look and a slight shake of his head.  “I’m sorry, Betsy…”

“Elizabeth.” She said coldly.

“Sorry?”  Lee blinked.

“My name is Elizabeth.  Only my close friends can call me Betsy and you have proven not to be one of those.”

Lee dropped his head with a sigh his voice filled with contrition.  “I’m sorry, Be… Elizabeth.  Look, you have every right to be angry with me.  And I wouldn’t have bothered you at all if this wasn’t important.  But I promise you, there just wasn’t any other way but to call you over here.”

“For what?”  She looked at him suspiciously.

Lee took a deep breath and made a show of cautiously scanning the surrounding area before turning his attention back to her.  “I found some information.”  He told her.  “It was…”  He paused and took another look around before giving her his most sincere look.   “Well, it was rather sensitive and I didn’t want it to fall into the wrong hands.”

Elizabeth unconsciously echoed Lee’s furtive scan of the neighborhood before turning her still distrusting attention back to him.  “What are you talking about?  What information?  I thought you couldn’t find anything in the basement that you were looking for?”

Lee took another serious look around.  “This house isn’t the only place in Washington where your uncle had information.”  He told her.  “We… well, I found some other… uh, files that showed something rather disturbing.”

“What kind of files?”  She wanted to know.

“Files about your real mother and father, as well as your husband.”  Lee gave her a level look.  “I didn’t want to take the chance of anyone hearing about this or seeing us together, so I asked you to meet me here.  This way, I’d be sure we were alone.”  Lee noticed with some satisfaction that Elizabeth paled just slightly and a light sheen of perspiration appeared on her brow.

“Let’s go into the house.”  She said stiffly.  Leading the way she almost hurried to the door, unlocking it and leading Lee inside.  Once inside, she closed the creaking door firmly behind them and whirled around on Lee.  “Alright.  Now, what is this non-sense about my ‘real’ parents and my dead husband?”

Lee could tell she was hiding her nervousness under anger and that suited him just fine.  “I found out that Myra Parks wasn’t your real mother.”  He told her. “And that Montgomery Parks never existed.  I have legal documentation of it.”

Elizabeth’s pallor increased, but to her credit, she didn’t shrink away from him.  Standing firmly, she squared her shoulders and faced him head on.  “That’s preposterous.  There is no legal documentation of it.”

Lee pounced on her words.  “Ah, hah.  So you do admit that Andrew Jenkins was your father and Anna Vysotsky was your mother?”

“I’ll admit no such thing.”  She answered.  “And I will not stand here and allow you to drag my family name through the mud.”

Elizabeth turned back towards the door but Lee stopped her with a hand on her arm.  “Don’t you even want to see the information I have?”

Elizabeth looked down at the hand on her arm in irritation then back up at the smirk on Lee’s face.  “I don’t believe you have any sort of proof of…”  Her words died on her lips as out of the corner of her eye, she saw something flit by in the shadows of the shuttered front room.  “Did you see that?”

“What?”  Lee’s brow furrowed as he looked around.  “The only thing I see is a frightened woman who doesn’t want to face the truth.”

Lee’s words snapped Elizabeth’s attention back to him and she gave him a fierce glare.  “I am not some frightened little girl like that partner of yours.”  She snarled.  “I do not quake at your so-called truth and I would have to see this information you claim to have to believe anything you say.”

“Well then,” Lee arched a brow at her.  “Let me show you.”

As Lee placed the brief case onto a nearby table and pretended to have trouble opening it, Amanda stood just in the other room, prepared to carry out her part in this little play.  Only she didn’t get the chance.  As she stepped forward, her foot caught on a small rug and she fell, hitting her head on a table, knocking her unconscious.

“What was that?”  Elizabeth’s head jerked up as she heard what sounded like a large thump in the other room.

“I don’t hear anything.”  Lee responded, praying silently that if it was Amanda, she could hide quickly before Elizabeth entered the room and found her.

“Well, I did.”  Elizabeth said firmly.  “There’s someone in there.  Is that where your partner is, Lee?  Are you two trying to scam me?”  With each question, Elizabeth’s voice just a touch higher in pitch.

“Elizabeth,” Lee said, stepping in front of Elizabeth to block her.  “My partner is not here.  I told you, I wanted to show this stuff to you alone.  I don’t want Amanda to know any of this.  She’s too honest.  She’d tell my boss as the Agency everything she knew.” 

Silently, Elizabeth considered his words and finally nodded with a sigh.  “Alright.  Then show me this documentation you supposedly have.”

Letting out the breath, he’d been holding, Lee stepped back over to the briefcase and bent to open it when suddenly it happened.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

**There are no such things as GHOSTS 11**

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

Lee had just bent down to release the catch on the briefcase when a book come sailing through the air, missing his head by inches. Jolting up, Lee glared over at Elizabeth.  “Why did you throw a book at me?”

Elizabeth, who’d seen the book fly past, stood in shock, her face a much paler shade.  “I… I… I didn’t do that, Lee.”  She told him.  “I swear.  It wasn’t me.  That thing just came out of nowhere.”

Lee gave her an “Oh, sure” look and bent down, picking up the book.  It was titled, ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ by Ray Bradbury.  Lee had to stifle a smile at Amanda’s cleverness.  “Well, somebody threw it.”  He commented.  “Books don’t just throw themselves.”

“Lee, I did not throw that book.”  Elizabeth was fighting to remain calm but her voice was giving her away.

“Alright, alright.”  Lee waved her off.  “Look, let me just show this to you and then we can talk terms.”

Elizabeth momentarily forgot the book when Lee mentioned terms.  “What do you mean, terms?”

“I mean, what I’m going to get out of having this information.”  He told her.  “You didn’t think I was just going to hand this over to you without some sort of payment, did you?  I’m just a lowly agent who isn’t paid nearly enough for what I do and I need money, Betsy.”  Lee dropped his voice menacingly.  “Of course, I can always share this information with a certain reporter I know.”

“Show me what you have.”  Elizabeth said angrily.

Grinning, Lee reached into the briefcase and pulled out a file, handing it to her.  “Of course, that’s not the original.” He told her.  “That’s just a copy.  But as you can see I do have the goods on you and your uncle.”

Elizabeth opened the file and found a copy of a birth certificate naming Anna Vysotsky as the mother of a baby girl and Andrew Jenkins as the father.  The certificate, thanks to Beamon, was official looking in every way, right down to the seal imprinted on its surface. 

Behind that was a letter, apparently in Andrew Jenkins handwriting and addressed to his sister Myra.  In the letter, he told her how Anna had given birth to their child and then threatened, just hours later, to take the baby away unless he married her.  He went on to say that he momentarily lost his mind and killed Anna, dumping her body in a nearby lake.

Elizabeth looked up at Lee. “Thi… this isn’t right.  He… he never… she didn’t… Anna didn’t want to marry him.  She…”  She stopped and took a deep breath.  “My uncle did not write this.”  She managed to clear the momentary emotion from her voice. 

“Didn’t he?”  Lee asked as he stepped forward and turned that paper over to reveal page two of the letter.  This page had the Senator’s signature and was dated just a few days after Elizabeth’s birth.  “I had that signature checked, Elizabeth.  It’s your uncle’s.”

Elizabeth looked at the paper then turned it over and looked at what was beneath it.  Another letter, this time from Leland Hopkins and was addressed to Andrew Jenkins.  The tone of this letter was very businesslike and to the point.  Leland Hopkins had proof that Jenkins had murdered Anna and he wanted Jenkins full support of his company getting as much of the government’s business as possible.  If not, he would take his information to the proper authorities.

This time, Elizabeth couldn’t hide the quivering of her chin as she read the letter and Lee knew he was onto something.  “I figure your uncle didn’t like having the squeeze put on him by your husband so he killed him.”  He told her, watching her carefully to gage her reaction.

Elizabeth looked up at him and started to reply when an eerie howling could be heard in the house.  Though rather soft, it seemed to come from everywhere at once. Without thinking, Elizabeth immediately stepped close to Lee.  “Let’s take this somewhere else.” She said, trembling.

But Lee shook his head.  “Uh, huh.  I’m not giving you any opportunities to get anything on me like your husband had on Jenkins.  That’s why I chose this house.  No way for you to trap me here.”

Elizabeth gave him a disparaging look.  “I have no reason to trap you.  I…”

Just then, another moan could be heard, followed by the sound of footsteps, as though someone was walking through the house with heavy shoes and a cane.  Step, slide - tap.  Step, slide - tap.  Step, slide – tap. 

Elizabeth turned absolutely white as she looked around for the source of the noise but saw absolutely nothing except dust motes dancing in the air in the small ray of sunshine that had breached the closed drapes.  “I want to leave here now.”  She said as she started for the door.  But just as she stepped away from Lee, the front door opened, violently slamming back against the wall then just as violently slamming closed again.

Both Lee and Elizabeth froze.  Lee knew his team was good but he hadn’t thought they were quite that good. 

Suddenly another noise could be heard.  It was the sound of a piano, playing a tune from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.  Elizabeth’s eyes almost literally bugged out as she looked wildly about her.  “That… that was… was my moth… mother’s favorite tune.”  She said.  “Dad told me that.  He… he…”  She swallowed hard.  “I’m getting out of here.” 

Starting forward again, she marched towards the now closed door and gripped the knob but it would not open.  Pulling with all her might, she could not get it to budge. 

Lee was seriously impressed with his co-workers and had to fight to pretend to be as frightened as Elizabeth.  “Come on.”  He said gruffly.  “Let’s try the back door.”

 Nodding, Elizabeth let go of the knob and followed Lee hurriedly to the kitchen in the back of the house.  But it was the same there.  The door refused to open. “What are we going to do?”  She moaned in fear.

“Well, ya know.”  Lee tried to sound reasonable.  “I’ve heard that anytime a ghost acts up, he wants something.  Maybe the ghost is your mom and she just wants the truth to be known.  She wants it known that Andrew Jenkins murdered her.”

But Elizabeth shook her head.  “My father loved my mother.”  She said sadly.  “He didn’t murder her.  She died giving birth to me.”

Just then the doors of all of the cabinets in the room suddenly began to bang open and closed and several dishes hurled themselves to the floor to smash to smithereens.  Elizabeth turned even paler, if that was possible.

“Well, it seems that something here wants something.”  Lee gave her a pointed look, not fazed in the slightest by the chaos going on around him. 

As he spoke the moaning began again and though the cupboard doors had slowed in their banging, they had not stopped.  Above it all the music could be heard again as well as the footsteps and now another even more terrifying sound made itself known.  A voice, hissing in their ears from nowhere.  “Tell him.” It demanded.  “TELL HIM!!!”

Even Lee was slightly shaken by that one, though he knew it wasn’t real.  “So what is it that you’re hiding, if not your mother’s murder?”  He made his tone a little kinder and softer when Elizabeth raised her eyes to his with a profoundly anguished expression on her face. 

“I killed my husband.”  She said.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**There are no such things as GHOSTS 12**

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

As soon as the words left her mouth, the cacophony surrounding them ceased.  The cabinet doors stopped in mid-swing, the plates that had started to lift themselves from the shelves settled back down with just a slight clang and the music, footsteps and voice could no longer be heard.

Lee ignored the silence as he stared at her, shocked at what he’d heard.  “You… You murdered him?”  He managed.

Elizabeth shrugged as she sank wearily down into a nearby chair.  “Murder is a relative term.” She said cryptically.  “I did kill him, but I’m not sure I would call it murder.”

“Well, what exactly would you call it?”  Lee asked as he leaned back against a counter for support. 

The Elizabeth that looked up at him was not the one he had always seen.  Gone was the superior and haughty sneer.  Her stiff and upright posture had melted and she seemed to almost curl into herself.   

 “He was trying to force my father to do some things that were illegal.”  She began to explain. “Leland threatened to ruin him if he didn’t go along.  But my father wasn’t willing to go along.  I know what you must think of him, with the gambling scandal and all, but that simply wasn’t the man I knew.  He was a good man who tried hard to do the right things; he just got caught up in… in…”  She paused and took a deep breath not sure what words to use to convince him.

Lee moved forward and sat on a chair next to her.  She was speaking so softly, he was afraid the wire he was wearing would have trouble picking her voice up otherwise.  Besides, there was something so sad about her; he almost wanted to give her a hug.

Elizabeth straightened a little and looked over at Lee.  “The night I ki… he died, we were arguing.  My father had not only turned him down, but also informed him that he was going to resign the next day.  Leland was furious.  He thought my father was doing it just to hurt him and his business.  I tried to get him to understand that my father only did what he had to do and that it had nothing to do with him.  But Leland refused to listen and the more we argued about it, the angrier he got.  He started pushing me and hitting me with his cane…”

Lee’s brow crinkled in confusion.  “Are you saying you killed him in self defense?”

Elizabeth sighed and shook her head.  “No, it wasn’t that, exactly.”  Getting back to her feet, Elizabeth stepped over to the cellar door and haltingly touched the knob before pulling her hand back as if it were hot.  “We were here, in this house, when it happened.”

“Here?”  Lee was so engrossed in what she was telling him, he had forgotten that his partner had yet to put in an appearance and that the rest of the team hadn’t made a noise either.  “Were you staying here?”

“No,” Elizabeth answered.  “Leland had driven over here to try and force my father to do what he wanted.  He figured he could make my father rescind his resignation by threatening to take what information he had to the press.  I don’t know how he found out about my real mother, doesn’t matter I guess.  But he knew, and he was going to use that knowledge, and anything else he could find, to make my father do his bidding.” 

“So you just came over here with him and killed him?”  Lee was trying to understand exactly what took place.

She shook her head.  “When I found out what he had planned, I followed him over here to try and stop him somehow, convince him it wouldn’t work.  But he wouldn’t listen to me.  He wouldn’t listen to anyone.  We were here, in this room.  Leland was furious.  I stepped up next to him and took his arm, thinking I could calm him down, but he shook me off, shoved me backwards.  I fell on the floor and before I could get up, he was on me, kicking me in the stomach and hit clubbing me with that cane and screaming at me.”

“Then it was self-defense.”  Lee said logically.  “You were just defending yourself.”

But Elizabeth shook her head again.  “My father pulled him off of me.  Threatened to call the police and have him arrested if he didn’t stop.  That seemed to work. Leland stepped back from me and leaned on the wall there by the basement stairs, to catch his breath.  He didn’t care about me or…” 

She paused and Lee noticed her hand gently and briefly caress her stomach before she looked back up at him.

“He didn’t care about me, but he did care about going to jail so he stopped.  He wouldn’t have done anything else to me.  But he’d already done enough.”  She raised anguished eyes to him.  “I was pregnant, Lee.  When he was hitting and kicking me, I could feel something inside of me break and I knew he had killed my baby. When I finally got up off the floor, I couldn’t think of anything else but doing the same thing to him.”

Lee closed his eyes and dropped his head.  It now made sense and despite himself he felt sorry for her.  “Elizabeth…”

“NO!” Her head snapped up, anger replacing the sorrow.  “I killed that bastard because of what he did to me.  I pushed him down the stairs then followed him down there and stabbed him till I was sure he was dead.  And I don’t regret it.  But I am not going to prison for it.”  Reaching into the purse she still had hanging on her shoulder, she quickly pulled out a gun and raised it towards him. 

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

In the library, Amanda was beginning to regain consciousness.  Reaching up, she felt a large lump on her forehead.  “Oh gosh, that hurts.”  She said as she painfully pulled herself to her feet and looked around.  The house was quiet. 

Too quiet. 

She had no idea how long she’d been out but she couldn’t imagine it had been that long.  By now the house should be alive with all sorts of ghostly activity and noise, but there was nothing.  Gripping the table that she’d fallen on, she stood still for a moment until her head cleared enough for her to make her way out of the small room she’d been in.  Walking a little unsteadily, she made her way through the empty living room and into the kitchen, where a startling sight caught her eyes.

“Oh my gosh!” Was all she could think to say.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

**There are no such things as GHOSTS 13 (and also the conclusion – It’s a ghost story, it has to have 13 chapters)**

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

When Amanda entered the kitchen, she saw Lee and Elizabeth locked in, what at first, looked like a passionate embrace on the floor.  Amanda knew Lee was dedicated but she thought that was going a bit far. Then she realized what she was witnessing, was instead a struggle and despite the odds, it looked like Elizabeth was going to win as she was practically sitting on top of Lee, her hands around his throat.

Ignoring her pounding head, Amanda quickly crossed the room and grabbed the detestable woman by the arm.  “Let him go.” She grunted pulling as hard as she could on her.

But Elizabeth, with a strength born of madness and hatred, would not budge.  Amanda looked wildly around the kitchen for something to use as a weapon and spied the gun on the floor, just out of the struggling couple’s reach.  Staggering over to it, she picked it up and pointed the weapon at Elizabeth.  “Hold it!” She yelled in her best Marshal Dillon voice.  “Get off of him.”

Elizabeth froze as she looked up and saw Amanda holding the gun shakily in her hands.  Without releasing Lee, she sat atop him for a second gauging her chances of getting the gun away from Amanda.  The brunette did look unsteady on her feet and the hand that held the gun was shaking violently.  Pulling an almost unconscious Lee slightly up by the lapels of his shirt, she slammed his head back down on the floor before letting him go. 

Never taking her eyes off of Amanda, she got to her feet and slowly began to approach her.  “You aren’t going to shoot me.”  She said in a calm and almost soothing voice.  “You’re too afraid to shoot me.”

Amanda swallowed hard and backed up a few inches but kept her arms locked in front of her and the gun held tightly in both of her hands, her right index finger on the trigger.  “I… I don’t want to shoot you.”  Amanda confessed.  “But I will, if you don’t stop right there.”  She hoped her bluff worked because she really didn’t want to shoot that gun.

“No you won’t.”  Elizabeth said assuredly.  “You don’t have what it takes.”

“She might not,” Lee said from behind her, “but I do.”  Both women had been locked in each other’s sights and neither one had seen Lee getting to his feet.  When the struggle between he and Elizabeth had begun, she had knocked his gun from his hand and he had found it where it had landed under the table.  Reclaiming his weapon, he now held it steadily against Elizabeth’s head.  “Don’t move, Elizabeth.”  He warned.  “I don’t want to shoot you anymore than Amanda does, but _I_ will.”

Elizabeth halted her forward progress and stood perfectly still for a second.  But she wasn’t about ready to give up just yet.  Suddenly dropping to the floor, she kicked out her leg, hitting Amanda just below the knee and knocking her to the ground, causing her to bang her already sore head on the cabinet behind her. 

Desperately, Elizabeth lunged for the gun that Amanda had dropped but Lee was on her in an instant.  Grabbing her by the shoulder, he pulled her up and around and pulled back his fist, knocking her senseless in one smooth punch.  Elizabeth went down without a whimper.

Lee released her and quickly moved over to Amanda.  “Amanda!?  You okay?”  His heart was pounding loudly at the thought that she might’ve seriously been hurt.

Amanda was weakly trying to pull herself up but the task seemed beyond her for the moment.  She did manage a smile though and a slight nod towards Lee.  “I’m alright, Lee.”  She managed to reassure him.

Just then Billy and Francine came rushing into the room, guns drawn and raised, ready to do battle.  Only the battle was already over.  “Lee, Amanda.”  Billy called as he took in the scene.  “You two alright?”

Lee nodded with a touch of irritation, as he helped Amanda to her feet.  “Where have you two been?”  He questioned.  “How long does it take to get in here from upstairs?”

Francine bent down and grabbed a groggy Elizabeth by the arm, helping her to her feet.  “Sorry, Scarecrow,” she said as she cuffed her and started leading her towards the door.  “I’ll take her out to the car and you explain it to Lee.” She told Billy as she passed him.

Billy looked at Lee in confusion.  “Lee, we weren’t upstairs.  We were stuck in traffic about three miles from here.  There was a wreck and we couldn’t get past it.”

Lee helped Amanda to a chair and then looked at Billy, a puzzled frown on his face.  “Three miles?  Then how did you get all of those special effects to work so well? I thought leatherneck said you had to be in the house to get them to work.”

Billy gave Lee and an odd look.  “What special effects?  Lee, are you sure you’re alright?  There were no special effects.”

Lee reached in his pocket for the wire; he still wore, and found that though it was a bit battered, it was still intact.  “Did you hear everything that happened on this?”

Billy nodded uncertainly, wondering if perhaps Lee had been dealt a serious head wound.  “We heard everything you all said.”

“But what about the rest of it?”  Lee asked, glancing over at Amanda.  “Surely you heard it?”  He almost pleaded with her to agree.

But Amanda shook her head, instantly regretting it as her head pounded even harder.  “I fell and hit my head and was knocked out, Lee.  I didn’t come to until just before I came in here.  I saw you and Elizabeth fighting and she was trying to strangle you and then I grabbed the gun, well I grabbed her gun and…”

“Alright, Amanda.” Lee stopped her in mid-ramble.  Running a hand through his hair, he looked around the room before returning his gaze back to Billy.  “You didn’t hear plates breaking or footsteps or a strange voice or doors slamming opened and closed?”

Billy shook his head, now more certain than ever that Lee must’ve sustained a concussion of some sort from his fight with Elizabeth.  “No, Lee, we didn’t.”

“And you weren’t here?”  Lee just wanted to be sure.

Billy shook his head again.  “No, we weren’t.”

Lee sat back in his chair, totally non-plussed.  “Billy, I think me and Amanda both need to go to the hospital and have our heads examined.”  He said dejectedly.

**SMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMKSMK**

Three nights later, Amanda was sitting in her family room playing scrabble with her mother and complaining loudly about the woman’s propensity to cheat.   Secretly she didn’t mind though.  It was good to have her family back home and knowing the kind of home life Elizabeth Hopkins had, had made her cherish her own even more.

Deciding to take a break from the game, she had stepped into the kitchen to make cocoa for her family when she heard familiar tapping on the kitchen window. Taking a furtive glance into the family room, she quickly slipped out the door to find Lee standing just out of sight waiting on her.  “Hello.”  She smiled, happy to see him.  “How are you?”

“That’s my question.”  Lee answered.  “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to stop by before now, but I got kind of tied up.  But I did want to make sure you were okay.”

Amanda’s smile broadened.  “Aw, I’m okay.  The doctor in the emergency room said it was just a mild concussion, and the bruise on my leg is fading.”

“Good,” Lee said sincerely.  “I’m glad to hear that.”

“Is that the only reason you came over here?”  Amanda asked watching him intently and hoping it was.

“Well, no.”  Lee answered.  “I also thought you might want to know how things turned out with the case.”

“Uh, oh…”  Amanda fought to keep the disappointment out of her voice.  “Of course I do.”

“Well,”  Lee leaned against the side of the house with a smug smile.  “With Elizabeth’s confession, we got a court order to legally search the house and we found those files we were looking for. They were actually upstairs in the parlor in a small filing cabinet.  We also found a walled off section of the basement that held Anna Vysotsky’s body. The coroner can’t tell how she died but he couldn’t find any obvious signs of violence so Elizabeth was probably telling the truth about how her mother died.”

Amanda’s smile faltered and she dropped her head.  “I’m glad she was found.” She said sadly.  “But it sure is sad to hear about.  What about Elizabeth?  What’s going to happen to her?”

“Well,” Lee shook his head with a sigh.  “She’s got an attorney, the best money can buy and she’s claiming insanity and a coerced confession but with what we have on tape, there’s not much chance of her getting out of this completely.”

“What about what you don’t have on tape?”  Amanda asked pointedly.  “I mean, I know I was unconscious for most of it, but I also know you saw and heard some pretty strange things there that night.”

Lee started to deny it but he knew he could be honest with Amanda.  “You know,” he said as he pushed himself away from the siding and prepared to leave.  “I’ve come to the conclusion, that it maybe I was wrong.  Maybe there are such things as ghosts.”

If Amanda was surprised by his admission, she didn’t show it.  Instead she grinned.  “Does that mean that you believe Leland Hopkins ghost and maybe Anna’s was helping us that night?”

Lee shrugged.  “I don’t know, honestly.  But I’ll tell you one thing, I’m not going ghost hunting anytime soon to find out.”

Just then Dotty could be heard calling Amanda’s name.  “Amanda?  Is the cocoa just about ready?”

Amanda gave Lee a rueful look as she turned back towards the window.  “Uh, no, Mother.  But I’ll have it in just a few minutes.”  She called.  Turning back to Lee, she found he’d already taken his leave and was gone.  “Who needs ghosts?’  She muttered as she opened the door and went inside.  “I have Lee Stetson to pop in and out.

The End.


End file.
